All homes to have smart electricity meters from 2019
New homes and those with solar panels will be the first to get the new digital meters under a plan being launched today by the energy minister
Investment needed
With smart meters, distribution system operators can monitor consumption better and adjust supply to demand. It will also be easier for householders to get an overview of their consumption.
Not everyone would immediately have to install a new meter. New houses and those with solar panels would be the first.
There has been concern about digital meters among householders who use solar panels. With the current meters, their meter goes backwards when they produce more energy than they consume, but that wouldn’t be possible with the new meters. Tommelein has promised that solar panels will remain profitable.
He plans to choose a basic device, but considerable investment will be necessary to make the change. According to opposition party SP.A, a cost-benefit analysis showed that a full roll-out of the new system would need €2 billion. SP.A fears consumers will end up paying for the changes through increased tariffs.
Tommelein told Radio 1 that the figure was unfounded. “I want to make this change affordable and roll it out in different phases,” he said.
Photo: PGE/Flickr
